"In 1909 and 1910 there was a desperate race to be the first person in Australia to fly in a powered aircraft. The first few flights were made in aeroplanes that had been brought in from overseas, and which only stayed in the air for a few minutes.

On 16 July 1910, at Mia Mia in Victoria, pioneer aviator John Duigan was the first person to fly an Australian designed and built powered aircraft. He flew seven metres in his tiny aeroplane, and was in the air for just a few seconds. This brief flight that was over almost before it had begun took place only a few years after the Wright brothers flew the first ever powered aeroplanes."

source: http://www.historysmiths.com.au

Read more about John and his brother Reginald Duigan in a comprehensive website filled with facts, figures and a host of images of those early days, many not seen outside family circles for nearly 90 years